Barker: One more win should secure Bury FC survival

Bury boss Richie Barker reckons another victory is all the Shakers need to be sure of playing League One football next season. Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford left Bury four points above the drop zone but they bounced back on Easter Monday to beat Colchester 4-1 at Gigg Lane and claim a second straight home win.

Bury boss Richie Barker reckons another victory is all the Shakers need to be sure of playing League One football next season.

Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford left Bury four points above the drop zone but they bounced back on Easter Monday to beat Colchester 4-1 at Gigg Lane and claim a second straight home win.

Bury are on 49 points, one short of the 50-point mark targeted by Barker and usually thought to be enough to stay up.

With fourth-bottom Wycombe thumped 4-0 at Chesterfield, the Shakers have a seven-point buffer with four games left.

There are now three teams between themselves and the bottom four too heading into Saturday’s home game against mid-table Bournemouth, but Barker is not willing to take any chances.

"We probably need one more win to cement it," he said. "I’ve said all along 50 points but if we can get to 52 I think we’ll be there."

With away games at play-off hopefuls Notts County and Stevenage to come, Barker will be eager that the win comes this Saturday.

That would mean his side secure safety with three games to spare, something most observers thought was beyond Bury in the squad’s first season in League One and Barker’s first full season in management after steering the Shakers to promotion as caretaker boss last term.

"I think that if we stay up it’s a bigger achievement than last year," said Barker.

"We were everybody’s whipping boys at the start of the season, everyone expected us to finish bottom, so we genuinely believe that staying in this division would far outweigh what we achieved last season.

"What some people probably don’t realise is how big a gulf it is, to be thrown into this league in your first season with some of these teams.

"If Brentford, with their finances – and they have got some available – are saying they can’t cope then we’ve done extremely well."

He added: "From what I can gather, Brentford are saying, ‘I don’t know how we can compete at this level’.

"Well, if they can’t, how are we supposed to compete then? But I can’t come out and say that.

"We’re better just coming out and trying to move on to the next game and we moved on pretty well (against Colchester)."

Lenell John-Lewis and David Amoo are Bury’s only injury concerns but Barker hopes they will be available to face Bournemouth after giving his squad a break this week.

"Everyone’s going to play a part through the remaining four games," said the Bury boss.

"We just need to nurse them through and they’ll be having a well-earned couple of days off.

"We travelled on Good Friday, were away all day Saturday and they were in training on Easter Sunday so the boys haven’t seen their families for pretty much four days and they’ve worked extremely hard.

"I set them a little task before Easter and they’ve come up with the goods so they’re well worth their two days off."